​

​​New format, new approach? Not really…it looks like that other test, the ACT.

Why change the SAT? College board President and CEO David Coleman claimed that standardized tests have become "Admissions officers and counselors have said they find the data from

admissions exams useful, but are concerned that these exams have become disconnected from the work of high school classrooms.” After viewing these changes, it’s apparent that the New SAT has reformed to look very similar to its rival test, the ACT. Here is a chart outlining the similarities.

The old SAT: Falling behind to the ACT.

According to Fortune Magazine, “To fulfill commitments to college readiness and to meet the requirements of the 2001 No Child Left Behind act, which requires high schools to test students in math, reading, and science at least once during their secondary education, states adopted the ACT as an achievement exam.” With more and more colleges becoming test optional, the SAT has been losing considerable marketshare to the ACT.

Student’s experiences according to College Board and Kaplan. Disclaimer: These surveys are controlled!

After the first New SAT was administered in March, College Board and Kaplan both took surveys of students who took the New SAT, unfortunately, neither organization published the results of the entire survey.

16% of students responded that the new SAT “very much” reflected what they’re learning in high school while 56% responded “somewhat,” 23% responded “not too much,” and 5%responded “not at all.”

59% of students said the questions were straightforward and easy to follow though 58% also said they found the length of the sections tiring.

48% of students said the test was about as difficult as they expected, 30% thought it was more difficult than expected, and 22% thought it was less difficult than expected.

41% of students found the Math section more difficult than expected. 56% of students said they felt comfortable doing math without a calculator.

The reality of these surveys…too soon to tell.

These surveys conducted by College Board and Kaplan do not provide enough data to make a fair comparison against its predecessor. In fact, because the surveys were controlled, it leads me to believe that the results are fairly ambiguous and subjective.

Don’t compare the New SAT to the old SAT, compare it to the ACT.

It’s clear that New SAT was changed to better compete with the ACT, so why don’t we discover how student’s compare the New SAT and the ACT? Just like any car company that reforms a model, we want to the how it compares to its competition, not its predecessor.